Labor denies spying

May 6, 2008, 7:27pm,  148 views

The Australian reports that a photographer employed by the Labor Party was stalking Nationals by-election candidate in Gippsland, Darren Chester.

The Nats believe the photographer was commissioned to capture an unflattering pose of Chester scratching his arse, or something like that.

It’s apparently a fairly common strategy in American politics.

Labor state secretary Stephen Newnham said that although the ALP had hired the photographer, he had not been asked to photograph the Nationals candidate and had done so of his own accord while in the region to take some authorised shots of Labor candidate Darren McCubbin.

“We didn’t ask him to take any photos of the Nationals and we certainly don’t condone that sort of activity and I have subsequently had some strong words to him about that sort of conduct,” Mr Newnham said.